Steve's World BlogInformation and articles on cities, towns and villages around the world.

October 3, 2017

Buying a Wedding Cake – When you have a wedding date fast approaching, you need to get your skates on and order your wedding cake, especially if you want to retain the services of one of the elite cake makers. The reason for this is that the best cake makers can have waiting lists for wedding cakes stretching for a year or even more into the future. Ordering the wedding cake should in fact be one of the first things on your wedding agenda and as there are a lot of choices to be made, it is best to get this one item out of the way in the early stages of your preparations. You might think that there is not that much involved with choosing a wedding cake, but that is a misconception because you need to pick a style of cake, a flavour of cake, a filling for the cake, an icing for the cake, a topper for the cake and a size for the cake. You can talk to your local cake maker about many of these choices and they will doubtless be happy to help you as the cake is not the cheapest thing that you will have to pay out for. The average wedding cake will be two or three tiers with white icing, icing decoration and a bride and groom wedding cake topper.

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September 29, 2017

Hire a Marquee – If you have a special event coming up and you are thinking about holding it in an outside environment, you will probably be looking to hire a marquee, to make sure your guests don’t get wet if it rains. While sometimes holding a marquee event can cost more money than a traditional hotel venue, it does have quite a few advantages, in that you can tailor it exactly to your event and to your visitor numbers. The marquee itself may not be all that expensive, but the added extras are what ramps up the cost, so be very careful that you know exactly what you will be paying for at the end. Marquee hire companies are renowned for their “added extras”, so do your research and check out online reviews so that you can get a good feel for the company you are planning to work with. If anything seems amiss or unclear, find yourself a different marquee hire company that is more open with their costs and services. There is plenty of choice when it comes to hiring marquees and there are not only lots of different sizes, but also lots of different styles of marquee, gazebo and tent. Picking a suitable size and design for your event is important so talk it through thoroughly with the hire company before booking anything or paying a deposit. Also check if you need a licence or not, because if alcohol is being sold you will almost certainly need a licence from your local council.

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July 10, 2017

Hire Professional Caterers – If you have a big event planned and need somebody to do the catering services you would probably be best advised to contact some professional caterers to take care of this for you. Its okay doing the catering yourself when it is just a small affair, but for a grand event, hiring proper caterers is the best plan. Have a discussion with some potential caterers to see what they have to offer and make sure you give them all the information that they need in order to give you an accurate estimate of the costs and to be able to properly plan the event. Which caterers you decide to hire might depend on the type of event as particular caterers specialise in particular areas, for instance some may specialise in wedding catering while others specialise in hog roasts and barbeques. Your choice may also be influenced by the type of food you would like served at the event and specific caterers may specialise in asian food, french food, British food or gourmet cuisine. Have a good search around and try to find the most appropriate caterers for your needs, you could try asking family and friends to see if they have used caterers in the past and if they had a successful event, in which case you might approach the same caterers yourself.

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July 6, 2017

Get a DJ for Your Event – Next time you are planning a party or special celebration you should consider hiring the services of a professional DJ to do the music for you and organise all the entertainment. A professional DJ will bring all his own equipment and gear with him (so you don’t have to use your own) and provide everything you need to make your occasion go with a swing. Apart from supplying the musical entertainment your local DJ will provide a top quality microphone for all those important announcements, first rate lighting system so everything looks and feels great, and may even sing or provide some other live entertainment. Once you have a DJ booked you can relax and leave him to deal with all the minor details, while you get on with organising the rest of the party. Make sure you discuss with your DJ the exact types of music you want, tell him the age group of the guests and he will be able to help you with this, also make certain you tell him the type of event and he will fashion his presentation to suit the occasion ie: wedding, birthday party or corporate event. So go out and get your DJ booked and lets PARTY…

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October 28, 2016

Taking Dance Classes – While is may not be everyones cup of tea, not many people would argue that taking dance classes is both a good way to keep fit and a great way to meet new people. There can be other benefits too as dancing can help with many health problems, boost your confidence and assist you to keep your weight under control. Most towns will have a choice of options for booking dance classes with lots of dance styles catered for, so pick your preferred option and get booking those dance classes right now. No need to be a wallflower and stand by the bar anymore, you will now be able to get up there and join in the fun and maybe even impress with your newly learned dance moves.

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October 26, 2016

Limousine Hire – For those special occasions and celebrations there is nothing quite like hiring a limousine to transport you to the venue. Eveyone likes to get a taste of how the other half live and riding in a limo is just one of the ways that you can get to feel that you are one of the priveledged few. Be it a wedding celebration, a party of a school prom night, there are many occasions that might call for the use of a limo. When booking your limo, make sure that you use a reputable company as there are plenty of cowboys out there offering an inferior service, which runs totally against the grain of what you are trying to experience. You want a limo hire service which runs smoothly throughout the entire experience without any hitches or hiccups, and ceratinly no disasters. You can use the link below to find the best limo hire companies in your area.

October 10, 2016

Best Wedding Caterers – If you have a wedding to plan and the reception is one of the items in your agenda, then you’ll no doubt be looking for some wedding caterers to provide the food for the event. Now you might be planning a sit down dinner with waitress service or you might be just planning a buffet style do so that lots of people can attend. Either way you need to chat to some wedding caterers and get their angle on your plans, where should it be held, how many people are coming, what type of food do you want and how much do you have to spend. get a few quotes, check out some references, then you will be in a position to pick your favourite wedding caterer, simple? I don’t think so!

September 22, 2016

Booking a Mobile Disco or DJ – If you have an event or party coming up then you will probably be looking to book a DJ or a mobile disco to provide the musical entertainment for the occasion. It may be just to provide background noise so there is aways something going on and uncomfortable silences are avoided, or it may be a major part of the whole evening, in which case you need to book the right DJ or mobile disco for your particular requirements ie someone who will entertain the kids if it is a children’s party, or someone who will play some 60’s music if the guests are of the older generation. Consider the cost as well, because mobile discos can be expensive and you might need to shop around to find someone who can both offer their services on the day required and do it within your budget. You might want to check online and get some reviews of the various services available or you could ask family and friends for a recommendation of a mobile disco service or DJ that they have used. As with any service there will be amateurs and there will be experts, you need to find one of the experts.

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January 30, 2016

Hire a Wedding Planner – Planning a spring wedding this year? Want the best possible experience for your big day? Then you should think about hiring a proper wedding planner to do the job for you and take all the stress out of this sizable undertaking. Have a quick consultation giving them all the details you would like and then sit back and let them take the strain. Simplez.

September 25, 2013

Harrogate Flower Show North Yorkshire – A great event for the North Yorkshire town of Harrogate is its annual flower show, which takes place at the Great Yorkshire Showground in April every spring. A prime event in the horticultural calendar the Harrogate Flower Show boasts show gardens, competitions, live demonstrations, flower arranging, cookery theatre, floral art, kitchen garden, biggest onion event, and lots more, with fantastic flower displays from gardening societies and plant nurseries. There is also an autumn show which takes place every September, so there is no excuse to miss it. Make your plans to get on up to Harrogate, Yorkshire on the 24th to 27th April for the 2014 Spring show.

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July 31, 2012

Wokingham Family History Drop In – Today you can attend an interesting family history drop in, by heading down to Wokingham Library, where you can get expert advice on how to trace your family and ancestors. An ideal activity for you if the weather is not so good, this family history drop in will attract plenty of visitors. There are members of the Berkshire Family History Society on hand to help you with every aspect of building your family tree. If you do not live in Wokingham you can get a train to Wokingham Railway Station, catch a bus or drive to the town which is situated near to the M$ motorway to the south-east of Reading.

March 21, 2012

Valencia Fallas 2012 – On Monday we took a coach trip to see the final evening of the Fallas celebrations in Valencia. We picked up in various places along the way ending in Gran Alacant which was the final pick-up. We then headed along the Costa Blanca coast passing the airport and going up the A31 past many of the old historic towns with castles such as Novelda, Sax, Petrer and Villena, then cutting through to the Font de la Figuera (Spring of the Fig Picker), and picking up the A35 past Moixent, Montesa, L’Alcudia de Crispins and Xativa before reaching Valencia, for us a journey of 4 hours (we got on at Cabo Roig).

While there are many different celebrations in the Fallas, the star of the show is the building of giant effigies which are burnt on the final night together with a massive firework display. Some of the effigies are huge (up to 20 metres high) and make fun of famous people mostly Spanish, though one of the best this year featured Elvis Presley with a number of other famous pop stars such as Jimi Hendrix, John Lennon, Freddie Mercury etc. I must say the giants are amazing an it seems a shame to burn them though they do hand out some smaller sections of the figures to local children.

There was some concern over the weather on the day as rain was expected and in the event the celebrations went on in fine weather (though a bit chilly) and it actually started to rain as we got back on the coach for the journey home (and on through the night, some 6 inches of rain in all!).

We really enjoyed the whole event and the burnings are amazing, if rather smelly and dangerous, with burning pices of polystyrene flying everywhere, the fireworks were excellent, the display of flowers was amazing.